Lacing machine



J. FossA LACING MACHINE Nov. 3, 1942.

Original Filed July 1, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l J. FOSSA LACING MACHINENov. 3, 1942.

Original Filed July 1, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 3, 1942 UNITED STAT ES F F 1 CE LACING MACHINE Joseph Fossa, Lynn, Mass, assignortoUnited Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N; -J.-, a corporationof- New Jersey Original application July- 1, 19,38, Serial No.

217,004. Dividedan her 6', 1940-, Serial N 4- Claims.

The present invention relates to shoe upper lacing machines, and moreparticularly to improvements in the operating devices for an upperlacing machine of the type disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent of thepresent inventor No. 2,106,320 of January 25, 1938, in which a pluralityof lacing mechanisms having reciprocating needles or other eyeletengaging devices act simultaneously to form a series of lacings fromseparate lengths of cord passing through the eyelets and across theedges of a shoe upper.

The present application is a division of applicants pending applicationSerial No. 217,004, filed July 1, 1938, for Lacing machines.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a machine forlacing shoe uppers-in which the lacing devices may be more quickly andeasily adjusted by the operator than heretofore, and as a result, theperiods of time in which the machine of necessity is not in operatingcondition are shorter and will occur less frequently than in priormachines of the type referred to.

Other objects of the invention are to improve the construction and modeof operation of the various parts of shoe upper lacing machines.

With the above objects in View, the features of the invention consist innovel and improved means for releasably securing the needles in themachine, and in novel devices, combinations and arrangements of partshereinafter described and claimed.

The several features of the invention and the advantages to be obtainedthereby will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from thefollowing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. l is a view in front elevation of portions of ashoe upper lacing machine embodying the features of the presentinvention; Fig. 2 is a view in right side elevation, partly in section,on an enlarged scale, of the lower forward part of the machine shown inFig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail view ona still further enlarged scale, takenin section, along the line 33 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a detail viewillustrating the operation of the loop taker in drawing tight a loop ofcord while forming a lacing.

The lacing machine illustrated in the drawings is of the sameconstruction and mode of operation, except as hereinafter described, asthat disclosed in inventors patent above referred to, and is arrangedwith six relatively movable lacing mechanisms, each having a movableframe 2, an eyelet engaging spindle or needle 4, a loop taker (1 thislappl-ication Decein- 6, upper and lower clamping members 8 and I0,

respectively, cord 'e'rid grippers l2, cord measuring fingers ll (Fig.4),.and" other operating devices to assist in forming a" separatecomplete lacing inreach eyelet ofIa shoe upper' whichis presented to themachine. Th'eflacing mechanisms are each supplied with -a cord and thelacing devices, inclutling those just mentioned,.operate to form aninterconnected series of'loopsin the cord," alternat'ej bights ofwhi'cjh a're passed through a pair ,oflalignedeyel'e'ts in'op'positesides of a shoe upper; and othersof which are passed across the edgesof, theupper. The bightofeach loop, .after being passed through theeyelets or across the upperedge, ispass'edjthrougha previously formed.loopand'is drawn 'tightb'y the loop taker to lock .the-wprevious'loopin place; At the end of the lacing'operation, the bight portion of thefinal loop, after being drawn tight; is severed and the severed .endwithdrawn from the previous loop.

Themachineis thenbrought to rest by a driving and stopping mechanismindicated generally by the referencenumeral l5qand. described more fullyin' the -p'ajtent' referred to. Ihe mannerin which successivelyformedloop are passed through preceding loops and drawn tight is'clearly illustrated in vFig. 4 which shows the relative positions-of oneloopjtaker 6 of one lacing mechanism and'a shoe upper it while a loopofcordlsupp'orted by the loop taker is being tightened; At the' sametime, the loop on the loop taker is being tightened, it is moved into aposition where the next loop of cord formed by the needle! will passthroughthe loop held by-thellooptakerto be engagedin turn by the .looptaker as theloop taker moves in the opposite direction. In tighteningeach loop of cord, the side of the loop which is connected to thepreviously' formed loop passes beneath the upper and around the cordmeasuring finger l4'to providesuificientslack inall the lacings aftercompletion' to allow the'upper to be opened'upand ,toTj-cause theeyeletted edges, when the upper is applied to' alast,..to lie flat uponthe surfaces of the last without distortion or unnatural curvature.

To release .an'eedle' from a needle bar in the machine'o'f inventorspatent, it is necessary to reach up at a ,difiicult angle betweencloselyv spaced parts with a screw driver and'to'loosen a set screwwhich clamps the needle in the bar. Such manipulations frequently areinconvenient, particularly where lighting is poor, so that operation ofthe machine may be unreasonably delayed while needles, are being removedor replaced.

To enable the operator to remove or replace roc'ates (see Fi 3).

needles in the present machine without appreciable loss of time, eachneedle is releasably secured in its respective needle bar indicated at12, by a spring actuated detent comprising a plunger '14 slidabletransversely in a passage in the needle bar, and a bushing ,16. issecured in the main frame of the machine for guiding a spindle releasingtool, such as that indicated in dotdash lines 18, against the plunger tomove it;

into a position where the needle is released. The arrangement is suchthat the bushing 16 is in alignment with the plunger 14 while. themachine is in stopped position; As asconvenient tool for actuating theplunger 14 to release the needles, a straight rod fitting loosely withthe inside of the bushing 16 and having a circular handle is provided.The tool'is'inserted in the bushing 16 to release the needles only whilethe machine is stopped, and immediately withdrawn .so that it will notinterfere withthe reciprocatin movement ofthe'needle'barSL' needle isformed with cooperating] surfaces arranged to locate the needle incorrect "angular position and to lock'orrelease-the needle in'the needlebar when the, plungeris moved. Each plunger 14 isfsurrou'nde'd "bya'spring 84 compressed between a' shoulderat thefend of an,4O

enlargement in thelvpassa ge of thefneedle 'bar through which theplunger 'pas'sesya'nda head at the end of the plungenrwhichfhead'is,flattened at one side to avoid interfering with a relativelystationary'plate 86 forming a part of the carrier in which the needlebar 12 recip- .To prevent rotation of the plunger 14 in the needle barand to limit the action of spring 84, in the "upper end of the plunger,there is a-pin 88, one end of which extends into a slot "formed in theside of the passage for the plunger Each needle 4 has at its lower end-aflat surface, and each plunger is cut away at one side alongfits centralportion to such an extent that the flattened surface of;

the needle, when the needle 'is pressed into the needle bar, will enter,the Tout-away portion of the plunger. The needle is also formed with aslot at rightangles'to 'th'fia'ttened surface of the needle. and theslotisof'jsuch size that'as;

the plunger is movedv by the spring 84, it will enter the slot andlockthefneedlef from being withdrawn. The needl'ejha T nelside at'itsend beveled sothat the plungerwillbemoved against the spring 84 withoutemploying the tool 18 when the needle is introduced into' the needle.bar.'

Having thus described thei 'nyention, what is I claimed is:

l. A machinefor lacing eyeletted shoe uppers and the bushin s "16 are so30' having, in combination, a main frame, a plurality of lacingmechanisms including eyelet engaging spindles, a driving and stoppingmechanism, reciprocating spindle supporting bars, means for releasablysecuring the spindles in the spindle bars, and means carried by the mainframe and arranged transversely of the spindle bars to guide a spindlereleasing tool into proper cooperative relation with any of the securingmeans for the spindles only when the spindle bars are at the points intheir respective reciprocating movements in which the driving andstopping mechanism brings the machine to rest.

- 2.A "machine for lacing eyeletted shoe uppers having, in combination,a main frame, a plurality of lacing mechanisms including eyelet engagingspindles, 'a driving and stopping mechanism, re-

"ciprocating spindle supporting bars, a spring actuated detent on eachspindle bar arranged to lock the respective needle releasably to thebar, and, a bushing carried by the main frame and arranged in alignmentwith each detent while the spindle bars are in positions assumed whenthe machine is brough to rest by the driving and stopping mechanismafter lacing an I upper to guide a needle releasing tool against the"detent.

3. A machine for lacing eyeletted shoe uppers jhaving, in combination, amain frame, a plurality of relatively movable lacing mechanismsincluding eyelet engaging spindles having shanks formed with surfaces tolocate the spindles in correct angular position, and spindle supportingbars, spacing mechanism for separating the lacing mechanisms relativelyto each other, a spring actuated plunger on each spindle bar arrangedtransversely of the spindles and recessed to permit passage of a spindlepast the plunger in one angular position only of the spindle when theplunger is moved in the spindle bar from its spring actuated positionand to lock the spindle from movement out of the spindle bar when theplunger moves towards it spring actuated position, and means carried bythe main frame for guiding'a spindle releasing tool into propercooperative relation with any of the securing means for the spindleswhen the lacing mechanisms are moved into their most Widely separatedpositions by the spacing mechanism.

4. A machine for lacing eyeletted shoe uppers having, in combination, amain frame, a plurality of lacing mechanisms including eyelet engagingspindles,.a driving and stopping mechanism, reciprocating spindlesupporting bars, spacing mechanism for changing the distances betweenthe lacing mechanisms, means for releasably securing the spindles in thespindle bars, and bushings secured in the main frame transversely of thespindle bars to guide a spindle releasing tool into proper cooperativerelation with the securing means only when the lacing mechanisms areadjusted to one limit of their spacing movement by the spacing mechanism1 and only at the points in the reciprocating 65' movem'entsof thespindle bars in which the driving and stopping mechanism brings themachine to res JOSEPH FOSSA.

